Northern weather

[robert.]

Fungus/mildew kill squash plants. Gets them right where the vine meets the dirt.It's hard to get rid of. Stays in your soil. I have it at my mothers and cant grow squash cucs or pumpkins over there. Sometimes you get a squash crop of all male flowers. I had that problem a few years back. This year something chewed up my tomato plants. I thought it was deer or groundhogs. Boy was i wrong. It was Catepillars.

[rogruth]

We had the tomato caterpillar problem this year for the first time.
Before the tomatoes grew big enough to eat there were big holes in them.
Tried several kinds of spray. Nothing worked.

[robert.]

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[rogruth]

The worms on our tomatoes were a different type. Very hard to find. I was told they only came out at night. The few times a did se any they were
@ an inch long and a rather neutral color that seemed brownish,

[rogruth]

The worms on our tomatoes were a different type. Very hard to find. I was told they only came out at night. The few times a did se any they were
@ an inch long and a rather neutral color that seemed brownish,

My grandfather liked those big juicy green ones for fishing.

[healey36]

Fungus/mildew kill squash plants. Gets them right where the vine meets the dirt.It's hard to get rid of. Stays in your soil. I have it at my mothers and cant grow squash cucs or pumpkins over there.

That's good to know, Robert - that might be what I have going on. What are you telling me? I need to shovel out the garden down to three or four feet and replace the dirt? Slash and burn might be a good alternative...

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Fungus/mildew kill squash plants. Gets them right where the vine meets the dirt.It's hard to get rid of. Stays in your soil. I have it at my mothers and cant grow squash cucs or pumpkins over there.

That's good to know, Robert - that might be what I have going on. What are you telling me? I need to shovel out the garden down to three or four feet and replace the dirt? Slash and burn might be a good alternative...

There are anti-fungals that you can use and good drainage helps, but with the weather this year, not so much - raised beds should help a lot though and mixing in some more sand into the soil to break it up for better aeration and drainage might be something for the Fall and next Spring.

[robert.]

Look up baking soda for powdery mildew. Some old timers say "use milk". Mix 50/50 with water.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Look up baking soda for powdery mildew. Some old timers say "use milk". Mix 50/50 with water.

Shifts the pH - not unlike using pulverized lime around the tomatoes.

[healey36]

Look up baking soda for powdery mildew. Some old timers say "use milk". Mix 50/50 with water.

Do you spray it on the plants, or just soak the soil with it?

[robert.]

I tried milk and baking soda. Both failed due to applying them after the fact. It's something that needs to be preemptive. Start from day one. You can buy treated seeds. They have a red powder on them. I'm going to butcher what the treatment is called. Captan Carboxyl. I'll sit back and let rufus Correct it. It's best to make a mound to grow cucumbers and other vines. A big mound. plant your seeds in the top. Keep the well feed. Throw dirt over the vine as it grows. This will cause it to make more roots. If the seed end dies out maybe it will live on a little longer. Good luck. i love to garden but would hate to support myself with it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Captan, I know - standard general fungicide that is used in agriculture but also as preservative and paints and anything household that might support or attract fungal growth, like the grout in bathrooms and showers. No idea what the "Carboxyl" refers to as captan does not have a carboxylate nor a an amide to act as a counter ion; wonder if it's a half imide derivative of the benzimide..... Hmmm...... I'm 35 years out of my ag chem pesticide world...

[robert.]

It is for root growth and causing the seed to open quicker. I was told it can keep birds from eating your freshly planted seeds.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

It is for root growth and causing the seed to open quicker.

I have some of that in powder form for rooting cacti......somewhere in the gardening cabinet.

I was told it can keep birds from eating your freshly planted seeds.

Probably tastes fowl.....

[John Webster]

Hmmm... sudden burst of activity on the pun police radio channel in Freedonia.